Titration calorimetry was used to determine equilibrium constants and standard molar enthalpy, Gibbs energy, and entropy changes for the reactions of a series of acids, amines, and cyclic alcohols with alpha- and beta-cyclodextrin. The results have been examined in terms of structural features in the ligands such as the number of alkyl groups, the charge number, the presence of a double bond, branching, and the presence of methyl and methoxy groups. The values of thermodynamic quantities, in particular the standard molar Gibbs energy, correlate well with the structural features in the ligands. These structural correlations can be used for the estimation of thermodynamic quantities for related reactions. Enthalpy-entropy compensation is evident when the individual classes of substances studied herein are considered, but does not hold when these various classes of ligands are considered collectively. The NMR results indicate that the mode of accommodation of the acids and amines in the alpha-cyclodextrin cavity is very similar, but that the 1-methyl groups in 1-methylhexylamine and in 1-methylheptylamine and the N-methyl group in N-methylhexylamine lie outside the alpha-cyclodextrin cavity. This latter finding is consistent with the calorimetric results. Many of the thermodynamic and NMR results can be qualitatively understood in terms of van der Waals forces and hydrophobic effects.